Tires, the WalMart and a random dude

I went to the WalMart yesterday, that's right THE WalMart, to have the other set of tires mounted. I used the WalMart because tire mounting is pretty cheap there and they balance them for the life of the tire. I first called ahead to make sure they could handle 37" tires which they can, what they cannot do is make reservations apparently it is a walk-in only setup. Anyways I got in line behind 2 people at just before 1pm and made it to the front of that line 15 minutes later. They remembered me from the phone call and said they would have my truck done in "about an hour". 3 hours later I drove away with only 2 tires mounted, apparently the other 2 had hard bends in the bead of the tire making it difficult to seal. I suspect the damage was caused by the WalMart but I don't really care because I got the 2 worst tires off of the truck and I'm planning on downsizing tires anyways. The 37's show signs of rubbing and I'm sure 35's or 33's would do just fine for my purposes. Moral of the story: Sometimes things are only CHEAP or FREE if your time is worth nothing to you. To me, time is everything. Especially when I have an awesome wife at home waiting for me to return. The way I see it, if I multiplied my meager hourly wage by the time spent at the WalMart plus the price of the service I would say I was ripped off! Especially since I already worked 40 hours this week and those 3+ hours would put me into overtime. ALSO! I would say spending ANY time at the WalMart on a SATURDAY of all days would warrant some sort of hazard pay. Carts packed with junk whizzing by, kids screaming, no one to help you find what you came for, great prices on things you don't actually need, 2 checkstands open, the parking lot(demolition derby) and the strangest mix of people. UGH. Which reminds me of this random dude I met while pondering a possible seat cover purchase. I think this guy lived at the WalMart, his eyes were crossed- probably from trying to find prices for things he had originally wanted to buy on all the mixed up shelves but had long forgotten what they were or where he found them. He was alone, but looking for someone- I think he thought I was the guy he was looking for. Maybe his family is also lost in the WalMart, or maybe they went home and forgot the poor guy there. He hadn't shaved or showered in quite a while unfortunately. Anyways I hope the random WalMart dude finds what he is looking for at the WalMart, even if it's just a friend.